News
Kona 2007 - Race Report
Posted October 22, 2007 10:17 AM
See Hawaii 2007 photos in the gallery
"I'm racing at Ironman Hawaii...!!!" This was the thought that went through my head a thousand times on October 13th. All day long I could hardly believe that what I'd dreamed of for so long was actually taking place.
The morning of the race was balmy and clear. The alarm was set for 4am. Jan & Ken, who were staying with us, were already out of the condo by the time we got up (their alarm was set for 3am) as they were volunteering as body markers down at the race site. Bob was to have volunteered as well but opted to stay behind with me to continue with his IronSherpa duties of making sure that I was okay before the start of the race.
I ate/drank my pre-race breakfast of 2 bottles of boost, a blueberry smoothie, and a plain bagel with jam - approx 1,000 calories. It's very hard to eat so much that early in the morning, but it's a critical part of the day's nutrition plan so I managed to eat it all by 5:00am. The next time I would eat solid food would be 18 hours later - some post-race pizza after my massage.
Bob then drove me down to the race headquarters hotel and went off to park the car. I sat in the lobby for a few minutes watching athletes scuttling to and fro and then realized that I needed to use the bathroom before Bob returned and we headed down to body marking. The lineup to the ladies room in the hotel was quite long but I didn't want to go outside and wait for one of the porta potties, so I joined the indoor lineup. As I inched forward closer to the front of the line I realized that I was starting to feel quite warm and clammy. I took off my jacket but that didn't help very much. By the time I was at the front of the line I was starting to feel quite faint and worried. Luckily a stall became free and I made it just in time to sit down and put my head in my hands. After exiting the toilet I splashed cold water on my face and neck and got out of the room as quickly as possible. I went back to the lobby to find Bob waiting for me. Luckily, as it was only about 5:30am at that point, there was time to sit quietly in the lobby until I felt completely better. I was frightened that I would not feel well during the race, but luckily it was an isolated event. (The day after the race we were back at the hotel and I used the same ladies' room. I realized then what had made me feel so sick - the smell of the industrial strength deodorizer was extremely overpowering and I'm sure that's what contributed with the race day nerves to make me feel so unwell).
We then headed outside the hotel to the body marking area. I dropped off my special foods bags in the designated bins making sure that the blue bag went in the "bike" bin and the red bag went in the "run" bin. My calf was then marked with my age and we proceeded in to the lineup for my age group to be marked on both arms. Quick hugs and photos with Jan & Ken before having "500" marked on both arms by the volunteers. We then made our way out to the pier where all the bikes were waiting for their riders. It was now about 6:00am and the sky was getting brighter. We could see that the ocean was calm and inviting. It looked like a fantastic morning for a race!
After having my bike tires inflated to the proper pressure, and uncovering my bike seat and aerobottle, I was able to fill my aerobottle with my E-Load/Endurolyte combo drink, and to put two large sports bottles with more combo drink in my bottle holders. I had planned on using CarboPro 1200 in the race as this way I wouldn't need to bother with gels as well as sports drink, but during a practice ride of the course 2 weeks beforehand I experienced some severe stomach cramping in the last 20km of the ride. I couldn't risk that happening in the race. I decided to go with my normal E-load/Endurolyte sports drink combo and gels. As I hadn't brought any of these supplies with me to Hawaii, I phoned Jan before they left Victoria and asked her to buy and bring everything with her. I'm so thankful that I reverted to my "tried and true" nutrition as I had no problems on the bike ride at all and had steady energy the entire way.
Approximately 10 minutes before the pro race started at 6:45am, 5 Navy Seals parachuted above the race site and landed in the water. Then the cannon roared and the pros set out on their day. As it turned out the day was very tough on the pros with last year's male winner dropping out due to GI problems (along with quite a few others suffering from the same thing). Last year's female winner also DNF'd, and 6 time winner Natasha Baddman had a severe bike crash after swerving to avoid one of the race official motorcycles. Chris McCormack of Australia won the race in his 6th or 7th attempt in Hawaii. A complete unknown, Chrissie Wellington from England, was the women's winner - this race was her 2nd IM distance race ever!
Once the pro race was underway it was time for the 1700+ age groupers to enter the water. I made my way to the pre-arranged spot by the side of the pier where I knew that Jan & Ken would be waiting sitting on the edge by the giant Gatorade bottle. Unfortunately the crowds were so thick that Bob was unable to join them as he had stayed with me right up until my entry in the water. The plan was to hold on to one of the giant tires until the race started - the other alternative was to tread water for 15 minutes. One of the fellows next to me decided to actually stick his butt in the centre of the tire and sit in it. He then extended his legs out in front of him and invited me to climb on and sit there. It was very bizarre to be suspended in the water on someone's leg prior to an IM race!!
I remember hearing the announcer saying that it was 5 minutes until the race start, but then I spotted Adrian Walton from the Y Tri Club (who had qualified at Ironman Canada in late August) about 15 feet away from me in the water. We shouted good luck at each other and then I turned to chat with Jan & Ken sitting and taking photos above me. All of a sudden I heard the loud "boom" of the cannon and the race was underway - apparently 2 minutes early for some reason. No time for last minute jitters. I looked to my left and there were more people swimming close by than I was expecting so I just stayed on the tire line of the pier and pulled my way along until the pier ended and clear water appeared. Then I started swimming and realized for the first time that day that "I'm racing at Ironman Hawaii..!!!"
My pre-race plan was to swim hard and to find some good toes to draft off. I had hoped to exit the water in approx 1:15. In one of my swim practices a couple of weeks before the race I had drafted off a fellow who was the perfect speed for me. We did the course in 1:10:30 and I was stoked. The next weekend, at an ocean swim race, I swam 1/2 the IM distance in 34:07 once again having found the perfectly paced swimmer to draft behind. However, on the day of the race, I had lost the advantage to find a slightly faster swimmer to draft off by hesitating at the beginning and staying along the tires of the pier. When I tried to re-enter the mass of swimmers to find someone to swim behind I was pummeled and thumped on the side of the face and my goggles shifted up on my cheek and began to leak. So I decided to stay in clearer waters, draft if possible, and just survive. My swim time was 1:24 and I was initially disappointed until I heard the next day that Adrian's swim was 1:14. This put the swim in perspective for me as Adrian is a much faster swimmer than I am, so the ocean current on the return leg of the swim had an effect on the swim times.
Exiting the water I headed for the fresh water showers and rinsed all the salt water out of my hair and off my trisuit. I didn't want any salt chafing during the bike or run portions of the race - ouch! Transition to the bike leg was faster than the 10 minutes I had projected, at just under 7 minutes. Ran around the pier to get to my bike and Bob was waiting there to take photos of me heading out. Over the mount line and onto my bike. The first part of the bike leg heads up a short hill and then onto a flat section before another hill to the Queen K Highway. Then we head along the highway back almost to the race start down a steep hill making a sharp left (the Cannondale "Hot" Corner) which is lined with a wall of haybales in case someone does not negotiate the corner properly - scary sight...The next portion is a short out and back before heading back near the race start and up a steep hill back to the Queen K Highway. This was one of the spots that we had pre-arranged that Jan, Ken & Bob would be waiting to see me before I headed out on the long stretch to the turnaround in Hawi (another 54 miles away). In a flash I was past my IronSherpas and heading up the hill. I was finally on the Queen K and heading towards Hawi. The entire bike course is made up of short flat sections with constant undulating hills. No long straight sections or long downhills like in Canada. Just never-ending short hills. For the next 34 miles the winds were minimal which was a blessing as on some of my training rides the winds had been absolutely brutal and I had been very fearful that race day might consist of high winds for the entire bike course.
After 34 miles on the Queen K the course veers off onto a smaller highway heading to Hawi. Once we hit this road the winds began to blow and the next 20 miles were spent slogging against the headwinds. Not wanting to stop at the aid stations to use the porta potties I was relieved when my bladder was finally full enough to allow me to relax on a downhill and "let go". Ahhh the sweet relief! I reached down to grab my water bottle and squirted it all over my legs and shoes to rinse off. Then I attempted to return the bottle to the holder beneath me. However it's entry was blocked by another bottle. I realized my mistake - I had inadvertently grabbed my E-load/Endurolyte combo bottle instead of the water bottle and squirted this highly sticky mixture all over myself! Yuck. Luckily I had enough drink in my aerobottle to last until Hawi and the special foods area, plus enough water in the other bottle to mostly clean off the mess I'd made....
At one point on the road to Hawi Adrian and I spotted each other (he was headed back towards Kona while I was still outward bound to Hawi). This was a wonderful boost to see him. My next "carrot" was to see Bob, Jan & Ken in Hawi. There are very few spectators out on the bike course - most everyone is in Kona lining the roads around the race start/finish - so it's such a mental help to know that you'll see someone you know at one of the loneliest points of the race. I had estimated that I would arrive in Hawi between 12:15 and 12:45. I arrived at 12:31 and waved a quick hello to the group before heading back towards Kona. Just up the road were the special foods bag drop. I called out my number and pulled over to the side of the road to collect my bag containing 8 additional gels and 3 previously frozen (but now hopefully thawed and still cold) sports bottles containing my E-Load/Endurolyte combo drink to use during the return leg of the bike course.
Disaster!! I was told by the volunteer that my special foods bag wasn't there. I implored the volunteers to look again PLEASE!! Still no bag to be found. I don't know what went wrong as I know the bag was dropped off correctly earlier in the morning. It was either given out to someone else, or it was placed in the wrong number row (perhaps 1500 instead of 500...) All I knew was that I was potentially screwed as I could not change my nutrition plan at that point in the race and use the Gatorade Endurance sports drink formula that was supplied on the course as the only time I had tried it (at a running race the weekend before) it had caused a side stitch. I couldn't risk drinking it on the bike and running into GI problems.
Luckily I remembered that I had packed baggies of E-load/Endurolyte powder in my behind the seat bike bottles containing my tool kit, extra tubes, C02 cartridges etc. Plus I had put 2 baggies in my trioutfit pockets in the event I might run out of my pre-mixed liquid if it had been an extremely hot day and I consumed more liquid than normal. I'm of the "bring it just in case" mentality and in this case it really saved my race. I was able to add a package of crystals to water and fill my aero bottle at the next aid station, and at 3 others along the way back to town. I had gone through nearly all my gels but luckily one of the aid stations did carry the flavour PowerGel that I use and they kindly gave me a handful of gels after I explained what had happened at the special foods location.
So I was finally on the bike course heading towards the cutoff back to the Queen K Highway. At this point the winds that had plagued me going to Hawi were now tailwinds heading towards Kona. I was flying along with barely any effort. My maximum speed was 60.6 kph on the flats!! This lasted for about 12 miles before the winds switched to crosswinds and then the fun began. For the balance of that road back to the Queen K, plus the 34 miles on the Queen K back to Kona, the winds were steady with hard, buffeting crosswinds and headwinds. In one respect, I was glad. It wouldn't have felt like really racing in Hawaii if the winds hadn't been a factor. It was a tough slog back to Kona though luckily my energy level remained steady.
Once back on the Queen K I mentally ticked off the miles as they passed - 34 more miles to go, 33 more miles to go, etc., etc - until finally I was approaching town and heading down the final approach to the pier. As I hit the dismount line I spotted Christiane who was volunteering as a bike catcher. I shouted out to her and she stepped forward to take my bike and give me a big hug before I ran to T2. In T2 I decided to take my time and let my heartrate settle down, dry my feet, change my socks, dry my orthotics which had been in my bike shoes and switch them into my runners, plus prime my feet with Body Glide to hopefully avoid the blistering I've experienced in the past. When I took off my bike shoes my feet looked like I had trench foot - the bottoms and all the toes were completely white from being sodden throughout the bike ride. I had doused myself with 1 - 2 water bottles at every aid station along the way to keep my core temperature down and a lot of the liquid ended up in my bike shoes. My time in T2 was about a minute longer than I had estimated but it was worth it to take the extra time to properly prepare for the marathon to come.
Heading out from T2 I had planned to walk the first 15 minutes of the run. However I felt surprisingly good and started out running feeling strong. Approximately 10 minutes later I rendevouzed with Bob, Jan & Ken at Hon'l Beach just across the street from the condo where we were staying. There was a nice rock wall along the side of the road and I sat for a couple of minutes with everyone before heading out again. Just up the road were Shell & Keith outside their hotel. They are friends that we made last year volunteering at the race and when I saw them along Ali'i Drive I had to laugh out loud. Keith was doing all sorts of goofy full body leaps in the road as I approached and calling out lots of silly words of encouragement. It was great to see them. What a boost to my energy levels!
The run route goes out for 5 miles along Ali'i before returning back the same way and then up the big hill by the race start to the Queen K Highway. When I returned along Ali'i there was my support group waiting for me again at Hon'l Beach. This time I stopped to use the public washrooms by the beach and posed for photographs as the sun began to set over the horizon. My main goal for the marathon was to have fun and so I never worried for a second that I was "wasting" time by taking a break with my IronSherpas. It was all part of the experience and kept my spirits high. I knew that I was so lucky to be part of the race and that my main goal was just to finish and not to worry about my time.
Heading back out into the run I was still running. This was a first for me as usually I end up walking about 1/4 of the marathon either due to energy problems or physical problems. This time, with the exception of power walking up the big hill of Palani Road towards the Queen K Highway, and walking through the aid stations to take on nutrition, I ran the entire marathon - and felt great the whole time. I wasn't fast, but I was steady.
As I started out on the Queen K Highway (approx 8 miles out to the turnaround point in the Natural Energy Lab) the sun had completely set and it was dark out. Glow sticks were handed out to the runners on the course and I wore mine around my neck. For the most part, on the highway, it was pitch black. There are 4 or 5 intersections on the way to the NEL and at these points welcome light shone on the road. It was quite surreal to run in the dark and I wished that I had thought to put my running light in my bike to run bag, instead of my special foods run bag which I wouldn't be able to access for another 7 - 8 miles. As it turns out a number of people ran into problems along the highway in the dark, stumbling on rough patches of road, falling and injuring themselves. After the race I heard about one fellow (67 years old) who hit the 20 mile marker and tore a muscle in his leg. He ended up, in extreme pain, dragging his injured leg for the balance of the run route (another 6 miles). It took him more than 3 hours to reach the finish line from that point - he demonstrated true Ironman spirit...
My nutrition for the run course consisted of my gels plus I also started taking chicken broth, for the salt. This was wonderful and really helped stave off any cramping. From the turnaround point at the NEL I also took cola at each aid station, and this helped provide the late in the race energy that I needed to keep running.
As the bright lights of the NEL approached I mentally prepared myself for what had been described as the loneliest part of the race. A one mile descent to sea level, once again in the pitch black night, looking for the bright lights of the turnaround at the end of the road. Finally I was there and heading back but first a stop at special needs to get my runner's light which I put around my waist and which provided a pool of light in front of me (some people said they thought I was a train approaching when they saw me back up on the highway!) I also changed my socks to a fresh pair with anti blister powder inside. I now headed off for the final leg of the marathon - every step was (finally) taking me closer to the finish line. As I was running back up the road to the highway, looking up at the brilliant stars in the sky above, a jet plane flew over on its final approach to the airport approx 1 mile away. Everyone around hooted and hollered - we were all so thrilled to have seen the plane so close overhead during an IM race - bizarre to say the least!
Finally back up to the Queen K Highway - I had hoped to see Bob, Jan & Ken at one point in the Energy Lab but they had been unable to get close enough with the car to see me in time and had, instead, headed back to Kona to wait near the final approach to the finish line. I did see Tania & Steve, our friends from New Zealand, who were waiting to see Tania's 71 year old father who was also competing in the race. I took energy from Tania & Steve's enthusiastic welcome and hugs and recommenced my slow, steady run back towards town. The last few miles slowly ticked by - only 7 more to go, only 6 more to go...at about 2 miles to go, and with the approaching lights of town providing illumination to the road, I decided to get ready for the finish line photos. I straightened my race number (though it went crooked again before I crossed the line - darn!), threw away my glow stick necklace, and tried to turn off my running light. After spending about 2 minutes of fumbling about, while still running, unable to figure out where the on/off switch was (the volunteer at special foods had turned it on for me while I was changing my socks) I flung it in frustration into the bushes beside the road. Begone annoying run light!!
A few minutes minutes later I spotted Bob at the top of the final hill into town. He was ecstatic to see me and ran down the hill beside me telling me that I had done it - I was going to be a Hawaii Ironman finisher!! Jan & Ken were waiting at the bottom of the hill but I don't really remember if we hugged or if they said anything as my focus was on heading out on Kuakini Highway for the final "out and back" before going down Hualalai to Ali'i Drive and the finish line.
It was a beautiful, clear evening as I ran down Hualalai. Here the crowds are waiting for the finishers to head onto Ali'i and into the finish chute. So many people were cheering and high-fiving the athletes as they ran past. The energy was incredible and I just flew down Ali'i. The finish chute lined with hundreds and hundreds of people. I took my time to let a couple of other finishers cross before me, took a quick check back to make sure there was no-one else behind me, high-fived each side of the crowd and ran the final few feet, walked up onto the finish line ramp and raised my arms in triumph. My finish time was 14:47:54 - right where I expected to be in my pre-race calculations.
Walking down off the ramp I saw Bob approaching with the finisher's lei and a big hug and a kiss. Then into the welcoming arms of Jan, Ken and Christiane. Everyone accompanied me into the post-race area where I took a few minutes to go back into the ocean and cool down my muscles and core temperature. Then a wonderful rinse off under the incredibly cold fresh water shower nearby. My next stop was to collect my finisher's medal and t-shirt and then to pose for some post-race photos with Bob. I was absolutely flying high - I had raced at Ironman Hawaii and finished!!
My day had been incredibly positive - I went through the whole thing with a smile on my face. My nutrition plan worked perfectly, and for the first time in 7 Ironman races nothing hurt on my body at any point in the race. I kept running in the marathon expecting my knees, or my feet, or my hips to hurt and cause a problem but everything worked. It was a perfect race as far as I'm concerned!
Bob walked me over to the massage tent and I had a great post race rubdown of my legs. Then it was time to head over to the finish line to watch the final finishers coming across the line. After midnight a local Hawaiian comes forward to sing the Aloha song and everyone in the crowd joins hands and sways back and forth to the melody. It's a very special way to end the race and I was so thrilled that Jan & Ken were with Bob and I at that moment. They're amazing friends to come all the way to Hawaii for 2 weeks to support me and make my race day the best it could be.
Bob, Jan & Ken - the 3 IronSherpas for Team Gebbie! We did it!!!
To see my finish line crossing - go to:
http://www.ironmanlive.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/?show=tracker&y=2007
Enter 500 in Athlete Search and then scroll down and click on "Watch Me Finish".
